The Platte County Citizen

Call me old fashioned, but I remember a time when the Platte County Fair served as a gentle reminder of summer’s fleeting days.

Suddenly, the longest running fair west of the Mississippi seems to serve as summer’s joyous funeral procession. There’s plenty of fun to be had this weekend, but school will be starting sooner than us old people remember.

I recently received an unfortunate reminder that the first day for high school sports fall practices will be Monday, July 31. The first football games will be Friday, Aug. 18.

I know I’m not alone in lamenting that “The Boys of Fall” have become “The Boys of Mid-Summer.” There’s just something not quite right about football games being played in 90-degree weather.

Of course, my biggest complaint is my lack of summer time. It’s already time to start work on The Citizen’s annual fall sports preview section — the best look at all teams from Park Hill, Park Hill South, Platte County, North Platte and West Platte.

Summer is over after this weekend, essentially, and that makes me feel depressed.

But it’s not just me, your hard-working local newsman, who should be feeling this pinch. High school athletes and coaches seemingly work year-round at this point, especially those involved in two or more sports.

Think about this: the final state championship event for high school sports was played on the first weekend of June, June 3 to be exact. The first practice will occur just after the last weekend of July.

That’s barely two months.

And many of these athletes have been in camps and/or summer teams. To be the best, there really is no offseason anymore. That’s a giant cliche, but anymore, it’s more true than I care to admit.

Maybe I stand alone on this one, but I remember a time when the summer included more pool time than practice time, more recreational sports than film study.

Sigh.

This week will involve long hours at the fairgrounds documenting the action. I’ve come to enjoy this part of the job, but in the back of the mind, I’ll be thinking about summer’s end.

***

Last week’s story about the proposed housing development near Barry Road garnered big reactions. I wasn’t sure what to expect with other larger media outlets also dipping into this issue.

Also, I again learned that people don’t always read past the headline/description. This can be a problem.

In the article, Kansas City city councilman Dan Fowler expressed his feelings that the proposal wouldn’t work because the housing didn’t fit with existing housing in the area.

Yet, many people on our Facebook page seemed to indicate that the city council favored this. I assumed people will still show up and express their concerns, which is good.

However, I urge caution on the attack mentality. A proposal doesn’t mean a project is imminent, and in this case, it appears the due process has just started.

We try to supply as much information as possible in the articles. Try to give us at least a few paragraphs of your time before jumping to conclusions.

Make your voice heard; try to be reasonable.

***

This was the month of police pursuits so far.

Sheesh.

I’ve lamented here about the amount of chases that seem to occur in Platte County, but no less than five stories this week involve chases. Scary stuff for those of us who live here.

The junction of so many interstates can make us rife for experiencing these events, but lately, many of the suspects have been local. Fortunately, there have not been many associated injuries, other than to those doing the running.

I still worry about what could happen when one of these pursuits — many lengthy and at dangerously high speeds — might collect a bystander. Maybe asking the questions about engaging in pursuits should happen before we end up doing a post-mortem on an unfortunate event.

Ross Martin is publisher of The Citizen. He may be reached via email at editor@plattecountycitizen.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Citizen_Ross.